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Darien, King of Kjeldor is a good card for certain decks, but isn't very helpful here. We have to take damage to get tokens out of him, and six mana for a pretty bad body isn't ideal. While there are situations where this creature is useful, it usually just isn't high impact enough to justify the high mana cost.

Entrapment Maneuver was in my original list for the deck, but after some thought I decided to remove it. It would be great, except that our opponent gets to pick which attacker they sacrifice, and by extension how many tokens we get. Since our deck design encourages our opponents to keep tapping their creatures of all sizes, this is often just a lot of mana for situational, sub-par removal and a couple tokens on the side.

Knight-Captain of Eos seems promising. It is three creatures in one, and while it is slower than the deck would like at 5 mana, having the option to fog at the cost of a soldier token isn't bad to at least threaten. I'll definitely consider it, though deciding what to take out may be arduous.

Lena, Selfless Champion is one I looked at very briefly, but it just isn't very helpful. She doesn't count existing tokens when entering, and the scenarios where we most need tokens is when we don't have many creatures in play. Indestructible for a turn is nice, but it won't save our entire board (sometimes if all the soldier tribal buffs are out it won't save any of our stuff), and because it sits on the board it is easy to play around for our opponents. While the card technically helps in multiple roles, it's also bad at each of those.

Skullclamp treads just under the line of our budget, but it's a card I feel very unsure of. It draws cards, but only when our stuff dies. Anthems put our tokens out of automatic death range, so we also have to cause trades we would otherwise avoid to get much value. It isn't a bad card, far from it, but I can't see it being more useful in this deck than any of the ones we would need to take out for it.

1 month ago

I can tell just by looking at this briefly that this build has been improved over time as it looks very refined. As I am not experienced with this commander, take my comments with a grain of salt as you are more of the expert here.

Profane Command - I don't know that this should be cut, but I'd encourage you to really ask yourself which modes you typically use because you might be able to get a card with the desired mode for less mana. If X spells are a way for you close out the game, you could consider Exsanguinate or Torment of Hailfire.

Tamiyo's Journal - looks like a fun card, but idk about the cmc, requires a long game before providing lots of value.

Tainted Sigil - I've never seen this card before, does it pay off well? I just don't like that people can see it on the board.

Overall, very impression decklist - glad you rebuilt it. Eager to face it next week.

6 months ago

Imo, you need some more focus in the deck, particularly when it comes to your wincon.
Playing your commander, plus a ton of token generators, should be your wincon; in addition to other blanket buffers like Honor of the Pure

Taking a hard look at creatures, for maximum effect, it would work better if you had lots of low cmc creatures, with hampering effects for your opponents or beneficial effects for your board state. Your early game should look like youre setting up while keeping board state pressure to keep your opponent at bay. [card: Thalia, Heratic Cathar] is a great example of these kinds of cards.

Its a good time to get your pokes in, but your late game boomers are your commander Elesh Norn, Brisela, Jazal Goldmane and possibly Angelic Field Marshal. You could always include Felidar Sovereign if you think you'll end up pillow forted in and unable to swing for lethal, but that kind of depends on your play group as well.

Spot removal is also a thing with white. Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Entrapment Maneuver just to name a few with creatures. Other land, enchantment or artifact removal is a bit dependant on your play group as well, but one or two of those is usually a smart move in the deck.

Mana rocks are a HUUUUUUGE piece to your deck if you want to get consistent earlier drops for Norn. Sol Ring, Thran Dynamo, Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power and Gilded Lotus are some of the more obvious choices if youve got some cash to burn. Otherwise theres always Worn Powerstone or Marble Diamond among some cheaper manrock pick-ups.

Passive buffs are your butter to your token bread. Akroma's Memorial is a spectacular example, just like Eldrazi Monument, Intangible Virtue, Crusade and the like. Any blanket effect like that turns your weenies into winners. Try not to pile on with these guys too much or you could end up with a bunch of enchantments and few lands for a battlefield.

Last, but certainly not least, packing in some planeswalkers that support your token buddies help fill some gap where spells fall short. Elspeth, Knight-Errant brings more party animals, threats and a darksteel bomb for your field. Her Mirrodin version Elspeth Tirel keeps you stayin' alive, dropping bros and a wrath on a stick. [card: Ajani Goldmane] isnt quite as strong of an inclusive planeswalker, BUT if you have built up a semi decent state, dropping him can turn the tide in your favor from a cruddy turn 4 to a swing for some good damage turn 4.

Decks like this are kind of similar to fencing or boxing. Poke when you can, keep up a strong front, and even when they got you on the ropes, a haymaker can be a game changer.

Good referance material can be found here on EDHREC.com: https://edhrec.com/commanders/elesh-norn-grand-cenobite

Just like wikipedia, it might not always be the best source material, but it points you in a good direction.

6 months ago

No, you wouldn't have to sacrifice your Narset, Enlightened Master. You sacrifice the attacking creature during the resolution of Entrapment Maneuver, not the casting of the spell, and in response to Entrapment Maneuver hitting the stack you remove Narset from combat with Reconnaissance. When Entrapment Maneuver resolves there will be no attacking creatures, and nothing to sacrifice.

6 months ago

So, I was wondering. If I atack with Narset, and the defending player uses Entrapment Maneuver or another kind of "Target player sacrifices atacking creature(s)," or something like that. If I activate Reconnaissance to remove my Narset from the combat, do I still have to sacrifice her?

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